全新版大学英语视听阅读2 Unit15.docx

全新版大学英语视听阅读2 Unit15.docx

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全新版大学英语视听阅读2Unit15

Unit1

Watching

videoSCRIPT

Narrator:

Thecheetah.Withanastonishingabilitytosprintfromzerotoeightykilometersperhourinjustthreeseconds,it’sthefastestanimalonland.Atfullspeed,itcanreachalmost100kilometersperhour.Nothingcanescapeacheetahatfullsprint.Unfortunately,thisbeautiful,shyanimalisinseriousdangerofbecomingextinct.

Inordertohelp,NationalGeographicissendingateamintotheMoremiWildlifeReserveofBotswana.Theirgoalistohelpsavethesemagnificentcreaturesbycapturingthemonfilm.

ThecityofJohannesburg,SouthAfrica,isthefinalstopbeforetheteam’sjourneyintothewildsofAfrica.HeadingtheexpeditionisChrisJohns,aphotographerformorethan25years.Chrishasbeenplanningthistripforalongtime,andaccompanyinghimisguideDaveHamman.DavehaslivedinsouthernAfricamostofhislifeandknowstheregionwell.Hisknowledgewillbeusefulasthetwomenheadmorethan800kilometersnorthintoBotswanaandthewonderfulOkavangoDelta.

TheMoremiReserveisatrulymagicalplace.ItseemsthatAfrica’sentireanimalkingdomresidesintheregion.Zebras,buffaloes,andelephantsareeasilyviewedfromtheroughdirtroad.Evenagiraffemakesanappearance.ChrisandDavecontinuetheirdriveintotheevening.Theyneedtobefarintothewildernesstobegintheirtask:

findingcheetahs.

Narrator:

Thenextday,they’reupearlytobegintheirsearch.

ChrisJohns,NationalGeographicPhotographer:

“Youcan’tjustdriveoutthereandorderupacheetah.Itdoesn’thappenlikethat.Youknowthatitcouldtakedays,weeks.”

Narrator:

Butthensomethingincrediblyunexpectedoccurs...

DaveHamman:

“Idon’tbelievethis.”

Narrator:

It’safemaleandfiveofheryoung.

Hamman:

“Thisisjustnotnormal.”

Narrator:

Duringallofhisyearsinthebush,Davehasneverlocatedsomanycheetahsthisquickly.Thisisexactlywhattheyhadbeenhopingfor.ThediscoveryisespeciallypromisingforChris.

Johns:

“CheetahsareametaphorforsomeofAfrica’sconservationproblems.Becausecheetahsneedrange,andthey’reagoodwaytoexplaintopeoplethatlossofhabitatmeansthepotentiallossofspecies.

Andit’spossiblethatinmylifetimecheetahscouldbecomeextinctinthewild,andthat’s—tome—atragedythat’sunspeakable.”

Narrator:

TheMoremiWildlifeReservehasofferedChrisoneofthelastwindowsintothenaturalworldofthecheetah.ItwilltakeawhileforthecheetahstotrustChris,butifhesucceeds,heknowshe’llbeabletotakethephotographshereallywants:

ashotofacheetahpursuingandkillingitsprey,ora“killsequence.”

Johns:

“Weknowtherearecertainthingsthatacheetahstoryhastohave.Oneofthemostimportantthingsithastohave—whichisanincrediblydifficultthingtoget—isakillsequence,andyou’realwayslookingforthatpicture.”

Narrator:

Cheetahsarecapableoftremendousburstsofspeed,andhavethecapacitytogainspeedmorequicklythanasportscar.

However,whiletheycanreachalmost100kilometersanhour,cheetahscan’tmaintainsuchspeedsformorethan200to300meters.

Thecheetah’sfailedtocatchherdinnerthistime.Cheetahsmustmakeakilleveryfewdays.Aftermissingthereedbuck,themotherisexhausted,andhercubsarestillhungry.Thetwomendrivebacktocamp,leavingthecheetahfamilytorestintheshade.

Narrator:

Thenextday,ChrisandDavereturntowheretheylastsawthefamilyandfindthatthemotherandhercubsaregone.Thefemalehasprobablytakenthecubsawaytoprotectthem.Theymustnowlookforthecheetahsalloveragain.

Johns:

“Westillhaven’tseenthemotherwithfivecubsforseveraldaysnow.Thechallengeistokeepyourconcentration,toconstantlylook.Imean,we’relookingforatleasteighttotenhoursaday.”

Narrator:

Thetiringanddifficultsearchturnsfromdaysintoaweek.Thetwomenscaneverythingfromheavybushestoopengrasslands,hopingtocatchsightofthemother.Then,suddenly,theireffortsbecomeworthit.

Hamman:

“There!

Let’sgo,let’sgo!

”

Johns:

“Didyouseeher?

”

Hamman:

“Yeah!

She’sinthegrass,justdown,justdownthebreak...”

Narrator:

They’vefoundherandshelooksfine.Chrismustnowwaittoseeifthemothercheetahwilllethimbackintohertrustsothathecanphotographher.Onlyshecandecideifandwhen.

Chris’sopportunityforshootingakillsequencepresentsitselflaterinthemorning.Suddenly,themothersitsup,watchingandlisteningcarefully.She’sseensomething:

tworeedbucks.

Johns:

“Twelveo’clock.Tworeedbucks,twelveo’clock.”

Narrator:

Withhercubshiddensafelyaway,thebravehuntermovestowardhertarget.

Johns:

“Thereshegoes!

Thereshegoes!

”

Hamman:

“Hangon!

”

Narrator:

Themenmustdriveasquicklyaspossibleinordertogettheshot.

Johns:

“Shejustmoved.Didyouseeher?

Hangon.Shenailedit.Got’em!

Goodjob,girl.Welldone!

She’sagoodhunter.She’sarealgoodhunter.”

Narrator:

Intypicalcheetahstyle,themotherchokesherprey.Then,shetakestimetorecoverfromhersprint.

Johns:

“It’savulnerabletimebecauseifahyenaoranotherpredatormovedinonher,shecouldbeambushed.Sheisgoingtobeverycautious.”

Narrator:

Satisfiedforthemomentthatnootherpredatorsareinthearea,thefemalecallshercubstojoinherfortheirmeal.

Johns:

“It’slunchtime...”

Narrator:

ThemotherandcubsarefinallytrustingChrismorethanheeverexpected.

Johns:

“It’samazingthatthecheetahsarelettingmethisclose.ThesearethepicturesI’vebeenwaitingforfortenyears.”

Hamman:

“Youonlyseethingslikethisifyou’reextremelylucky,butalsopatient.Howmanyhourshavewespentwiththesecheetahsnowtoactuallygetthisfar?

Youknow,youjusthavetoputinthetimetogettheresults.”

Narrator:

Finally,alloftheirpatiencehasbroughttheexpeditiontheresultstheyhadbeenwaitingtoachieve,butthere’sstillonemoresurpriseforthem...

Eachday,motherandcubsopenupmoretothehumans,andallowthemtogetcloser.Thenfinally,somethingtrulywonderfulhappens.

Johns:

“Thatwasafantasticexperience,formeoneofthehighlightsofmylife.ButIthinkwiththatexperiencegoesalotofresponsibilityonmypart.”

Narrator:

Chrisnowfeelsthathehasaspecialresponsibility.Hewantstocommunicatetheendangeredstatusofthesebeautifulanimalstotheworld—boththroughhisphotographsandtheNationalGeographicarticle.

Johns:

“She’sjustgivenmeatremendousprivilege,oneofthefinestprivilegesofmylife.Sowiththatprivilegegoesagreatdealofresponsibility,Ithink,onmypart.”

Narrator:

Hopefully,Chriscanfulfillthisresponsibilitybybringingtheendangermentoftheseanimalsintoworldwidefocus.MaybehisactionswillhelpsavethecheetahsoftheOkavango,andtheworld.

HOMELISTENING

audioSCRIPT

UnderstandingExtinction

Aspeciesisconsideredextinctwhencarefulscientificsurveysshowthatthelastindividualofthatspecieshasdied.Thelossofmanyspeciesofplantsandanimalshasbeenattributedtochangesinclimate,geneticweaknesses,andhumanactivitiessuchashuntingandenvironmentaldestruction.Studieshaveshownthatalmostalllivingthingswilleventuallybecomeextinct.Infact,morethan99percentofthespeciesthathaveeverlivedonEarthhavenowdisappearedpermanently.Althoughthissoundslikeaterriblesituation,itisimportanttounderstandthattheearthseemstorecoverfromthelossofgreatnumbersofspecies.Inmanycases,replacementspeciesemergeovertime;however,extinctiondoesdecreasethediversityoflifeontheplanetintheshortterm.Thesereplacementspeciesoftenrequirerecoveryperiodsofmillionsofyears.

Humanbeingshavehadahugeimpactontheextinctionratesofvariousspecies.Therefore,scientistshaverecentlybeguntoexaminehumankind’seffectsonthenumbersofspeciesthathavebecomeextinct.Throughtheuseofgeographicalandbiologicalresearch,a“backgroundextinctionrate”hasbeenestablished.Thesefiguresshowthenumbersofspecieswhichhavedisappearedduringspecifictimeperiods.Bycomparingratesofextinctionbeforeandafterhumanexistence,researcherswereabletodiscovertheexacteffectsofhumankindonnature.Studiesnowcitethattheextinctionratesafterhumanlifebeganare100to1,000timesgreaterthanbeforehumaninfluenceonEarth.Futureratesareforecastedtobeevenhigher.Thisdemonstratesthetremendousnegativeimpactthathumanactivityishavingonextinctionrates.

Scientistsarecurrentlyresearchingmethodsofdealingwiththisastonishingtrend.Asindividuals,educators,andgovernmentstrytomanagespeciessurvival,onekeyfactortheyfindisthatwithouthelp,someoftheworld’sspeciescannotsurvive.Inaddition,scientistsmustlearntomakedifficultdecisionsbasedonincompleteinformation.Theymustalsodealwithgroupsthatmayhaveavestedinterestinnotprotectingcertainspecies.Forexample,peopleinterestedindevelopingoilfieldsintheArcticmaynotthinktheprotectionofthewildlifeintheregionisofprimaryimportance.

Unit2

Watching

videoSCRIPT

Narrator:

NeartheedgeoftheArcticregionofCanada,theshortsummerisbeingchasedawaybyaconstantcoldwindfromthenorth.AlongthewesternshoreoftheHudsonBay,winterisbeginningtocloseitsgrip.Oneanimal,withitsthickfurandlayerofheavyblubber,actuallythrivesinthesefreezing,lonelysurroundings:

thepolarbear.

CamElliot,ManitobaConservation:

“Polarbearsarebuiltforwinter.They’rebuiltforthecold.They’rebuiltforthewind.”

Narrator:

Thesemarinemammalsspen